A Mild Emergency
by Kalysia
Summary: Tommy gets an unexpected visitor, and things begin to spiral out of control.


Title: A Mild Emergency

Rating: PG-13 - Language, Adult Content, Violence

Spoilers: Season Two

Disclaimer: Characters and past storylines are property of their original owners and creators. I own nothing, except in the case of the odd original character or two.

Author's Note: I wrote this a while ago, and never posted it. So, I thought that now would be a good time to do so. I hope that you enjoy it!

Summary: Tommy gets an unexpected visitor, and things begin to spiral out of control.

* * *

The morning had been quiet for the guys of Ladder 62. No one had reported a fire, leaving the crew time to lounge about. They were scattered in twelve different directions around the firehouse, each attending to various, random, personal tasks.

Lou sat in the kitchen, his feet propped up on the table, reading the paper. This he could easily get away with, so long as the chief did not make an appearance. The night before had been hell, having had another argument with his wife. It looked as if the two were getting closer and closer to crossing the fine line of getting a divorce, and, truthfully, Lou was getting closer and closer to the point of not caring.

Laura was reorganizing her locker for the third time that morning. No matter what she did, everything just seemed too far out of place. Looking into the clutter that she called her personal storage space from hell, Laura decided that what she needed were small, portable shelving units to stick inside of the locker. Otherwise, she would end up losing her work shirt, again.

Sean was just exiting the bathroom, regretting having taken up the challenge to drink an entire two liter bottle of Pepsi in under thirty seconds. If he and Mike were to be given much more free time, Sean was certain that they would end up starting something that they ultimately could not finish.

Sean's ever present partner in crime was absent from work, having taken the day off to care for his daughter, who had come down with a case of chicken pox. Since his father's stroke, Franco was forced to take Quila back to his home. In that short amount of time, he found himself becoming quite the full-time father figure. Truth be told, he was loving every minute of it.

Mike was asleep in one of the bunks, having pulled a double shift, with no desire of going home. Since his break up with Theresa, Mike had found himself sleeping at the station quite often. He did not really care, knowing that he had nowhere better to be.

With a quiet sigh, a young girl took in the sight of all of this. For a moment, she was a little unsure of the place. If it weren't for the fire engines parked by the large garage style doors, she would be sure that she was in the wrong place. However, without having to double check the address, she knew that she was in the right building. Her father had given her the specific location of the firehouse, and she knew that she would find the individual of interest, one way or another.

As if on cue, Laura looked up, and saw the brunette standing in the doorway. Forgetting about her shelving dilemma, she left her locker wide open, and walked to the entrance, where the girl stood.

"Hi," Laura greeted, warmly. "Can I help you with something?"

The girl looked up. "Actually, yeah," she replied. "I'm looking for Tommy Gavin. Would you know where I could find him?"

Laura paused for a moment, in thought. "Let me check. I'll be right back, okay?" The girl nodded, and Laura disappeared through a small doorway to her left.

No sooner did Laura leave, than did Sean turn the corner of the row of lockers directly in front of the girl. Not bothering to watch where he was going, Sean continued toward the entrance, and almost knocked the brunette over in the process.

"Sorry," Sean muttered, as he finished regaining his balance.

"It's all right," the girl replied, nonchalantly. "I guess I'm kinda' in the way, here."

Sean perked up. "Not really," he assured her. "You looking for someone?"

The brunette nodded. "Tommy Gavin."

With a snap of the fingers of is right hand, Sean nodded. "I know where Tommy is," he informed her. "I'll get him." He turned around, headed for the kitchen. Stopping mid-step, Sean turned back. "Uh, who should I say is asking?"

The girl smiled. "Kali."

"Kali," Sean muttered. "Got it." With another snap of his right thumb and middle finger, Sean took off down the hall, toward the kitchen door. Pushing the door open, he stepped onto the tile of the floor, and looked around for Tommy. Spotting the blonde going through one of the many various cupboards that lined the walls, Sean decided to speak up. "Hey, Tommy, there's a chick outside." He paused. "Says she's lookin' for you."

Tommy turned around, with a look of slight irritation, mixed with what appeared to be a dull amusement. "Really?" he asked, flatly. "And, just what is the name of this piece of ass?"

A feeling of total emptiness filled Sean's mind, as he searched for the name. "Shit, I had it, a minute ago," he muttered, angrily. Suddenly, as if the hamster got back its wheel, the gears turned, and Sean remembered. "Oh, yeah. She said that her name was Kali, or something, I think."

"Kali?" Tommy asked. Sean nodded. "No shit." Setting down the cup that he had been cradling in his hands, Tommy stepped toward the kitchen door, and headed in the direction from which Sean had entered.

Walking toward the entrance of the building, Tommy was both surprised and not to see the face of the young brunette before him. She had obviously not seen him, yet, as she had yet to acknowledge him. Deciding to take the initiative, Tommy took another small step forward, and smiled.

"Hey, kid," he said, causing Kali to jump, and look up.

"Hi, Uncle Tommy!" she replied, enthusiastically. Kali rushed forward for a hug, and Tommy eagerly hugged her back. He hardly ever saw his eldest niece, and it had been at least a year since he had last seen her.

As the two pulled apart, Tommy gave another smile. He studied his niece for a moment, unable to get over how much she looked like her father. The brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles all came from him. Fortunately, as Tommy saw it, Kali had not inherited the Gavin nose. That would have completely ruined her features.

"So," Kali began, breaking Tommy from his thought process. "How have you been, Uncle Tommy?"

Tommy shrugged. "Eh. You know. Same old, same old. Your Aunt Janet and I are divorced, Colleen's got a girlfriend, Connor got a dog, and blah, blah, blah." He paused, considering how much more exciting he could have made that sound. He mentally shrugged the thought away, as he turned to a new question. "What about you?" he asked. "How have you been?" Kali dropped her gaze to the floor, saying nothing. Without having to ask, Tommy knew what was going on. "Come on," he said, motioning toward the exit. "Let's talk outside."


End file.
